Robert Gates

He wanted to see Russia fall apart.
"Dick wanted to see the collapse not only of the Soviet Union, but of Russia itself, so that it would never again be a threat to the rest of the world," CIA Director Robert Gates wrote in his memoirs.

Dr. John J. Hamre is President and CEO of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the world's number one Defense and National Security think tank. Before joining CSIS, he served as the 26th United States Deputy Secretary of Defense. Prior to holding that post, he was the Under Secretary of Defense from 1993 to 1997. In 2007, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates appointed Dr.

Donald Trump is giving signs at every opportunity that he will follow a very different line from the past U.S. presidents we have known until now, and that his management style will not be much different than that in his own real estate business. In the run-up to Jan.

The United States will not give up its support for Kurdish groups in Syria and Iraq despite Turkey's opposition, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense Mary Beth Long has stated.

President Barack Obama has nominated former senior Pentagon official Ashton Carter as US Secretary of Defense.

If confirmed by the Senate, Carter will replace outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who resigned in November.

Administration sources said on Dec. 2 that U.S. President Barack Obama has settled on the 60-year-old Ashton Carter as his fourth defense secretary, with an announcement expected in coming days once he is thoroughly vetted.

By Alexis Papachelas

The developments in Ukraine have given rise to a very interesting discussion over whether we are on the cusp of a major events that will affect global geopolitics. Some believe that we will return to the bipolar state of the Cold War, while others say that Russia is simply not powerful enough to form a rival pole to the West.